Bucks County DA using grant funds to bolster community relations in minority communities

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub knows well the schism that exists between law enforcement and communities of color, and believes love is a bridge.

Specifically, Weintraub believes the implementation of LOVE principles — Learn, Open, Volunteer and Empower — will better help officers interact and foster trust with their communities.

Those principals are hallmarks of the LOVE Is The Answer Movement, which is primarily focused on police-community relations and anti-bias training. Weintraub says his office has embraced those principles and supported efforts for greater adoption.

And a $545,000 grant through the House of Representatives' Community Project Funding should go a long way toward that goal, Weintraub believes.

LOVE Is The Answer founder and filmmaker A.J. Ali created the documentary "Walking While Black: L.O.V.E. is the Answer," which, at times uncomfortably, spotlights the distrust and animosity that exists between peace officers and the communities they are sworn to protect.

"I was convinced that we needed to shine a light on this to improve our relationship and our perceptions between police and communities of color and the general awareness of the perceptions in our communities at large," Weintraub said. "I became a real believer in the vision."

Ali said the film is meant to "spark meaningful conversation about how we can make things better.

"It's easy to turn on the news and every day and see something bad happen, but very few people are talking about solutions," he said.

Solving the problem together is the goal, he added.

"This film has been a catalyst for people being able to come together and discuss these difficult topics and work through them to come to some common ground."

Weintraub agreed, noting that the film gets to the heart of long-held stereotypes.

"The film makes you feel so raw emotionally and then you do the work and get in these discussion groups with not necessarily like-minded people with facilitators of course," said Weintraub, "and that's where the real work gets done and that's where those divides are bridged."

Related:Truman High School senior's L.O.V.E. is the Answer mural design comes to life in Morrisville

Further insight:Pennsylvania police agencies are whiter than communities they serve, even as leaders pursue diversity

What a $545,000 grant will do for the program

Weintraub said his work on police-community relations began well before the 2020 killing of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officers.

One of those relationships is with the Peace Center in Langhorne. The nonprofit has a stated mission to educate, empower and support individuals and organizations in efforts to prevent violence and promote peaceful resolution of conflict.

The Peace Center held a viewing of the film at a Yardley Friends' meeting in October, and another at Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills in November.

Peace Center Executive Director Danny Thomas said the groundwork for this effort began years prior, when former executive director Barbara Simmons met with Weintraub and now Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran, who was the public safety director in Bensalem, about setting up the program.

"The Peace Center has been promoting initiatives like this for 40 years, but not everyone recognized the need or the value. Matt recognized the value," Thomas said.

On the ground, Weintraub's broad adoption of the principles has been slow yet steady, and is encouraged by the support he has received from law enforcement officials and the Bucks County Commissioners.

"Falls Township Police Chief Nelson Whitney always participates, even when they aren't (held) in Falls Township," Weintraub said. "When I need officers to participate, he encourages the men and women under his command to participate and they do."

Weintraub also credited the sheriff's office and Middletown for their engagement in the program.

"I also enjoy similar focus with some officers in Middletown, certainly with Fred Harran in the sheriff's office."

Susan Safranek, who coordinates L.O.V.E. is the Answer for the Peace Center, is encouraged by the progress and said interest in the program is picking up.

To that end, Weintraub said the recent $545,000 grant facilitated by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick will allow his office to expand and deepen those efforts.

Fitzpatrick secured funding for this and nine other projects throughout Bucks County. In addition, Fitzpatrick is allowed to make five transportation and infrastructure Community Project Requests.

According to Fiztpatrick's office, Bucks County made history in 2020 when the district attorney's office became the first to license the film, and in less than a year, Weintraub's office secured commitments from 30 of the 39 police chiefs in Bucks County to use the film to train officers.

Weintraub said this one-time funding request will allow his office to deepen and enhance this work, and position Bucks County as a national model for police-community relations.

Without the grant funding, Weintraub said he would likely have to rely on volunteers and donations while limiting opportunities.

"This grant will allow us to have a little bit more capability to fund projects, to pay people willing to volunteer but might need a stipend. My goal is to at least perpetuate the showing of the film, the programs, the mural program and training; I think that's planting seeds and I would like to continue on the police side to further encourage buy-in."

But community buy-in is key.

"As I said, this is an incremental progress plan, meaning you can't just spread fairy dust and all of these good things are going to sprout out of the ground."

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County District Attorney uses grant to enhance, deepen L.O.V.E. training